M11x WWAN card info

This thread is for all information/questions about wwan cards for the m11x.
The following was posted by Mr dough boy


If you want both a good WWAN signal and wireless N speeds you need to do a bit of modification to the system, it does require removal of some parts so not for the faint hearted!

1. Purchase a compatible WWAN card.

2. Purchase 2 additional WWAN aerials - I purchased these: laptop mini pci wireless antenna antena u.fl short UK on eBay (end time 07-May-10 01:06:18 BST)

3. Remove the back panel

4. Remove the battery

5. Remove 2 screws holding the keyboard in place

6. Remove the front panel with a plastic edge, and the 2 screws holding the keyboard in place.

7. Remove the keyboard

8. Place the 2 new ariels under the keyboard, placing them under the back of the computer will be no good as the radio signals cannot penetrate, ensure they do not block the keyboard port holes.

9. Feed the cable through and connect 1 of the new ariels to the WWAN card and the other to the WLAN card.

10. Fit everything back as normal.

This gives me full wireless strengh for both WLAN card and WWAN card with full wireless N.




Heres an open ebay item for the aerial. (I believe it will work, please correct me if I am wrong) Aerial Antenna

 

Is this modification required if you purchased the WWAN option from Dell?

 

Nopz, all you need is them to open the back panel and replace the wwan express card with the one you bought, the antennas already come pre-installed.

 

So the m11x comes preinstalled with 2 antennas even if you didn't order it with a WWAN card??

 

No. The WWAN antennas come pre-installed only if you ordered your M11x with the WWAN option.

 

Your info is for the WLAN card, this thread is about WWAN (gobi, cellphone 3g internet)... not the same.

 

You can fit new aerials correctly - I am running a dell 5530 WWLAN and fitted aerials where they are supposed to be behind the screen - you will get a signal by is installing under the keyboard but you will get a better signal by installing behind the screen.

The screen is not that hard to remove - steps below

1> unplug from power supply
2> remove rear panel - you can now see the WWLAN location
3> unplug battery.
4> remove battery (2 screws)
5> remove all rear screws (all are labeled - under battery they are smaller and 2 are for keyboard remove them all)
6> Open top by pealing off the power button cover - start on RHS slight indentation, peel with care.
7> remove the two keyboard screws, carefully lift keyboard and lift up both ribbons on LHS - slide nails down the front edges and remove power ribbon & touch pad ribbon the top cover will unclick off,
8> you should now have access to most parts inside
9> starting at the base of the screen carefull pry off the screen cover - I start at the RHS and LHS extreme ends work toward the bottom centre.
10> once cracked slide nail or plastic unconnecter up both sides, at the top try and slide this down slightly
11> the top connectors go under the screen so don't pull off frontwards but slide down and the unclick.
12> now the screen cover is off try not to get finger prints on your screen, or inside your screen, you will regret it later if you do
13> Undo the 3 hinges on each side and admire the design fault
14> next to these are screw holding on the actual screen remove these and remove the two metal side covers.
15> You now have access to the existing L&R hand side ribbon runs.
16> install new aerials follow the ribbon runs taking care to peel and adhesive and place underneath (the existing ribbons will be under these to)
17> follow ribbons through hinges, note - if you have a white cable you will see this through the slight gap at rear of computer when fully assembled, if you are a perfectionist wrap some black tape around this and your current ribbon bundle.
18> trace through to WWLAN card position.

Reverse the dis-assembly steps, remember to check the inside of the plastic screen cover and the screen for dust, fingerprints etc.

This will take you around 2 hours if unskilled - around an hour if you have skills. If your concerned about doing this then don't do it - buy a screen with WWLAN pre-installed.

I have run this from memory - but am pretty sure it's accurate.

As a side note - stole my aerials from a dell mini 9 - same place i stole the dell 5530 card from.

 

A video would be perfect :|

 

So is the 5530 card the one that will be working in these computers? I just got a new screen and his has the antennas in it, so I want to put in the card.

 

I saw this post of yours before, I'm just trying to create some courage to do that, maybe after I install my new ssd, I'll do just that, however, so far I'm getting great signal using the AUX wifi antenna on my wwan card, and my wifi is normal, working only 802.11b/g, not 'n', as expected.

 

I'm coming in after reading the original thread. This is a sophomoric question but i just got a M11x and am considering doing this mod. As far as i've understood it i need to downgrade my BIOS from a05 to a04 in order to use non dell branded cards. I tried doing this last night but i can't install the older BIOS since it recognizes a05 as newer.

I'm assuming i'll have to create a bootable USB drive and run the a04.exe from a dos prompt. Am i correct? or will that end up bricking my BIOS?

 

I have a refurb M11x R1, luckily it came with the WWAN aerials preinstalled. Ordered a 5530 card, but after reading these threads I'll probably spring for a Gobi if it gives me too many troubles. Man I love this little machine.

 

I got a "repair" for my hinge this week. Tech came out (They sent one out, to busy this week to do the tear down myself.) after explaining to him on how to actually do the tear down and how to get it apart. (Love that. Every fricking time.)

The replacement LCD had both antennas, so if you have the "hinge" issue you can request a fix if you are under warranty the new LCD seems to nearly always have a WWAN antenna in it.

(I had gone through two in the past week, due to a bad Video Cam on the first one, and both had the WWAN. The Alienware rep said they just default to this one to CYA.)

 

I recently had to disconnect my CMOS battery because my computer wouldn't boot after a motorcycle accident. I saw the space for the WWAN and now I'm going to install one. I used the following video to disassemble my M11x, hopefully you guys find it useful.

Link: YouTube - Alienware M11x Teardown **READ SAFETY PRECAUTIONS PRIOR TO REPLACING PARTS** (Official Video)

 

The 5530 works fine the issue will be with finding drivers than run on windows 64 bit - I used the drivers I have from the mydellmini forum, this will work but you will need to manual install.

I have yet to get the GPS working (shows up under device manager, & control panel) but I get this showing up and NMEA data but no confirmed location. I had to deconstruct drivers from my M6400 which has drivers for a dell 5530 windows 7 64 bit. I'm using the WWAN right now to type this tend to run this and use VPN to connect to work server - stops them prying on my internet. As a side Cisco VPN is fussy as to what driver it will work with via 3G.

 

I wonder, would this one work?
WWAN 3G Dell 5530 UMTS HSDPA KM266 Nieuw - eBay, HSDPA-Datenkarten, PCMCIA Cards Controller, Notebookzubehör, Computer. (Eindtijd 02-apr-11 11:43:13 CEST)

 

search for my username and you'll find a link to drivers that work. HOWEVER the 5530 is pants it. randomly craps out, had issue on the m11x and a dell lattitude. the gobi is superb, rock solid and worth the extra dish.

also beware. sticking aerials under the keyboard is poor also, the signal is degraded heavily and is barely useable atleast that was my experience.

 

thanks for the heads up mate.

 

anyone tried the Gobi1000 (n2400) wwan card ? will it work with windows7 x64?

 

I just did that one, to install under the keyboard, even tho I strecched the cables as best as I could, so they wouldn't get on top of each other and take even more space, it bulked a little bit the keyboard, and it sort of looks like when it has that hinge problem, that the cover doesn't completely shut it down, it isn't noticeable unless you are looking for it.

Nevertheless, now I got full wifi strengh for both the wan and wifi, which I was experiencing some connectivity issues with only one antenna.

 

When you purchase a WWAN card, what do you need to check to see if it is compatible with the M11x R2? Or do all WWAN Card have the same compatability? I am on ebay at the moment and a bit confused...

 

There are quite a lot of wwan cards compatible, and many threads discussing each one, one of the most common ones you are going to find for a very good price is the Dell 5530, which is the one I'm using it atm.

I recommend buying some 3g antennas also, I had some wifi issues using wlan with only one antenna..

 

Did you install the WWAN card yourself?If you did, did you encounter any problems or was it pretty much straight forward?

 

I installed the card and the antennas myself, and my knowledge of opening up notebooks is limited, but is was pretty simple, however it took a little work, and you have to be careful.

I also wonder if those wwan antennas would actually really perform better at the top of the LCD screen, I mean, if I put it there, it'll basically be between the metal top cover and the LCD Screen. wouldn't the signal be worst than If I leave them beneath the keyboard?

 

i have a question.... i just ordered a change of screen from the black to the gray one and changed all my alienware to gray and the new screen came with the extra antennas, so i just need the wwan card?? the port where u put the sim card is there and working??

any good recomendation for wwan cards?? (compatible with AT&T)

 

I just bought unlock Dell wireless card 5620 from ebay. but right now I have difficulties to set it up. I use the driver and application of Dell Mobile Broadband Utility from the dell sites.
When I choose the network selection, the one which listed on the list only the operator from US and EU. and I don't live at those area. How I add another network profile for the card?

 

Try selecting the Generic option from the Network Selection menu.

 

The Generic option only available for the UMTS, while my data plan carrier use the EVDO. and after that if I insert my EVDO sim card the utility always said "no sim card inserted"

Is there any way to add the generic network for EVDO? Is there a possibility to connect the CDMA network besides verizon?

 

I have just had a visit from the Dell technician to replace my flawed/failed hinges (Dell is doing this for free if your hinges fail on all R1's and R2's I believe), this is done by replacing the whole screen and lid assembly. Hey presto, the replacement screen has the extra wwan antenna cables!

Since the antennae are there now I thought about installing a wwan card. So I read a ton of forum posts, what I surmise is:

1. Some bioses are choosy about non-Dell WWAN cards (bios locks wwan card)
2. Which is a shame because the Dell cards are actually awful (wwan card choice limits bios)

Specifically I would like not to be locked to a bios or a wwan card. Can someone list the current bios revisions for a M11x R2 that support any WWAN card? I believe I have A04 at the moment, cheers.

 

Hey guys. I need help!

I am unable to reinstall/uninstall the dell mobile broadband utility without getting a prompt for "files needed from a disk, please insert disc".

The file it's asking for is "dell mobile broadband utility.msi"

Everything was working fine until a while back .. My brother had a virgin mobile broadband2go thing and wanted to see how it worked, so i installed it on here.
It used the same program as the onboard wwan and ever since then I get a C++ runtime error whenever i try to use the program.

I'm trying to reinstall the program, but it keeps asking for a disc that contains files... it does the same thing when I'm trying to uninstall it.

Also, i don't know why, but ever since the virgin mobile card was installed (and uninstalled) my wifi connections list says "verizon wireless" under my mobile connections, and i do not know how to get rid of this, as I normally connect to AT&T.

 

is this thread dead?

 

Just wanted to share my experiance with installing a 5620 card and the wwan antennas.

First I want to say that the factory wwan antenna is one peice with the wlan antenna. Installing aftermarket ones will work, but you can get a super great deal on the actual wwan/wlan antenna system and it makes install very easy.

I installed a set of wlan antenna in mine because I did not know about the wwan/wlan antenna till today while trying to find a r3 daughter board.

But here is a little guide to installing the antennas.

1. remove back cover
2. remove battery pack, 2 screws and the plug
3. there are 4 screws you will see when you get the battery out. remove all 4 of them.
4. flip laptop over and remove power button cover. this is just clipped in, insert a flat screw driver on the right side and lift up NOTE: you need to open the screen all the way to get this out and back in.
5. at the top of the keyboard there are 2 screws, left and right, remove both screws and gently pry the keyboard up. It is clipped in on the sides and has little mounting tabs that slide in to the bottom. On the left side is the ribbon cables. To remove these cables you need to flip up the plastic locks, DO NOT push them out of their holders, just flip them up and they unlock.
6. Now that the keyboard is out you will see 2 more cables, one on the left side and one in the middle bottom (twards the track pad) unplug these cables the same way you did the keyboard.
7. next to the track pad is 2 long screws, remove them, on either side there are also 2 screws (one per side) remove them.
8. close screen and flip computer over.
9. Along the boarder of the computer are screws that are deep into some holes, these hold the palm rest in place. I think there were 6 of them total, these are long screws.
10. Flip computer over again and open the screen.
11. Gently lift up on the front by the lights. If you have all the screws out the palm rest will pop up. There is a cable on the underside of this that plugs into the lcd, its very small and on the right side of the power switch. It just unplugs.
12. Unplug LCD cable, You cant miss it, its pretty big. Cable just pulls upwards
13. Now remove the LCD screen, there are 4 fat screws holding the lcd to the base. Remove all 4 and lift screen out while feeding your wifi cables through the holes.
14. Now comes the fun part. This video will show you how to remove the lcd glass cover.
M11X screen fix - YouTube
15. Once you have the cover off you will see the hinges, and the bars that support the lcd. remove all the screws on the hinges, and there are 2 screws at the top left and right that hold the lcd in.
16. After all these parts are off you can leave the lcd in the frame and install your new wwan wires. they follow the same path as the wlan wires do.
17. after you get your wires in you may have problems getting the covers to stay on over the hinge. This is due to the wires moving and poping the clips that hold the plastic together. It took me 7 trys till I finally got the wires in the right place that the trim would not pop off every time I closed it.
18. Install lcd, feed your new wires back into the hold they came from and into the computer.
19. Reinstall all parts reverse order of this guide NOTE: you can leave the lcd cover glass off till the end if you want.
20. install wwan card/software/whatever you want.



If you have any questions, problems or anything else let me know. I have taken every part of my m11x apart many times now and should be able to help you with hardware based stuff... I dont do much with software as I am a auto mechanic by trade, so I know mechanicals.

I have included pictures of what the wlan/wwan antenna looks like, along with a picture of wlan cables.

The watermark on the pictures is a great site that sells m11x parts from recycled laptops.

Please ignore spelling errors

 

Hello everyone,

I just bought a second hand R1.
I don't have the antennas, i'm thinking of using them from my old Xps m1330.
The laptop got a new screen last month, is there any chance that the antennas are rolled up inside the screen?
I only assumed they weren't there because i dont see them routed with the backplate off, on my M1330 they were tracked and just had plastic covers on the connectors.

Has anyone tried jumping the antennas from the wifi to the wwan?
Would like a confirmation before i start tearing my screen apart.

Also what would you recommend for a card that has a GPS option?
Dell 5530? Some Gobi?

I'm using A05 Bios and would prefer to keep it.

Best regards.
Klaufi

 

I just bought a second hand R1.
I don't have the antennas, i'm thinking of using them from my old Xps m1330.
The laptop got a new screen last month, is there any chance that the antennas are rolled up inside the screen?
If your screen has the antenna they will be placed right next to the wwan card slot. They are bundled with the wlan antenna
I only assumed they weren't there because i dont see them routed with the backplate off, on my M1330 they were tracked and just had plastic covers on the connectors.

Has anyone tried jumping the antennas from the wifi to the wwan?
Would like a confirmation before i start tearing my screen apart.
This may cause interference problems, you can use one of the wlan antenna on the wwan card and one on the wlan, your signal will drop but at least you can use them both.

 

Thanks,
I'm trying to make up my mind about if i can live without "N" speed..

3G signal is a bit of a problem for me but wlan really isn't that big of a factor.
But they still interfere even though no wifi is connected while using wwan vice versa?

I might end up routing the antennas from the M1330 to my screen.

Then the big question, reccomendations for a card supporting GPS?

 

Hi readers, i just like to share my experience with the WWAN card on the M11x R2. Like written in this thread i purchased a Dell 5530 WWAN (HSDPA) card on ebay (out of china, real cheap)

i used the following link link as drivers.

Installing the card is like pointing to the drivers expanded from the .zip on your HD. the Windows 7 installation is actually more then just one step. after installing the first two unknown devises, 4 new, unknow, devices appear, just install them out of the same driverset as the first two.

Now comes the trick; right-click in device manager on the computer and toggle "scan for hardware changes" this time two more devices will be found, use the same driverset to install these devices.

After the installtion is complete install Ericssons 'Wireless Manager 5' to use the card.

As antenna i just ripped some wires out of an old laptop i had laying around. i connected these wires to the big aluminum sheets on the back of the screen and routed the wires through the screen into the casing.

my main signal i get using it indoors is 4 out of 5 bars HSDPA

 

Hi All

First of all let me say thank you for the information, it helped a lot.

I'll keep it short and sweet.

Model: M11x R3

BIOS: M11x R3 A04

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

Modem: Huwaie EM 770

Network: Vodafone

Software: Vodafone Mobile Broadband Software

Notes:
Antenna and modem were salvaged from a Advent 4213 netbook.

Antenna were installed under the palm rest.

Switched on and installed drivers I downloaded from the MSI

MSI U123H Drivers

Everything seemed to have installed fine, however, I could not "enable" the modem and the connection software (which was very basic) was telling me it was off.

I then installed the Vodafone Mobile Broadband software from their business division site, it removed the previous MSI software and drivers and proceeded to install.

Vodafone Mobile Software

The Vodafone software again was telling me that the modem was disabled, I then read a post on the previous wwan thread concerning bios comp ability.

I upgraded the bios to the latest from the UK alienware website (A04) and bobs your uncle everything is working fine

 

First POST!

I'm trying to figure if i "Need" a WWLAN card upgrade and if i would use it.
So basictly its a 3G receiver?

Info: I do have a 3G 1 gig/months plan with TELUS on a iphone (Canada)
Seems like there a software i can install to use 3g on laptop? ( so i guess my awnser is here? )

Is there any way to know if i have built in antenna for WWLAN?

I have a M11X R3 bough like 2 months ago.

What exactly i could do with the card?

Use GPS ? 3G directly ?
I readed a lot before asking :/ i can't find info i need

 

You can use the card as if you had internet anywhere you have phone service. I have gamed over 3g before, its not the best but it works.

You can use 3g for gps mapping.

To find out if you have the antenna, remove the bottom cover of the computer. There you will see either 2 wires (black/white) going to the wifi card and a extra 2 cables that dont connect to anything.

Chances are you dont have antenna unless you ordered the computer with 3g.

 

Quote from OP last sentence (first post)

"This gives me full wireless strengh for both WLAN card and WWAN card with full wireless N"

I currently have Intel N1000 Card and plan to intel 6300 shortly.
I do have a N wireless routeur ( Linksys e3200)

My Question about OP quote. Why adding a WWAN + ANTENA helped OP to get Full WLAN wireless N.

 

Hi Peoples

I have come across some difficulties, any input would be greatly appreciated.

I received my OCZ Agility 3 SSD today (wooooot ) so I fresh installed and followed the driver install guide to get everything up and running.

Now here is where it gets strange

If you note from my previous post, I was having difficulty "enabling" the modem until I upgraded the BIOS.

So I assumed that simply installing the Vodafone Manager would get everything up and running......no dice

I think there is some unknown quantity in my previous attempt that succeded in "enabling" the modem.

I followed the same process I did before, installed MSI drivers, restarted, installed Vodafone Drivers, restarted, then ran A04 Bios install from the dell website.

Annnnnddd NADA! Zilch! ZERO!

So let the games begin

My assumption is that installing the drivers under a previous bios, then upgrading, reintialised the modem.

This, of course, is my limited untrained IT tech wanabe thought process.

Am I missing something here?

 

my 5530 just doesnt appears in the device manager! everything is plugged in, but it isnt even named in the BIOS! can somebody help me please?

 

Hopefully somebody can help with this...I'm considering getting the Sierra Wireless MC8355, as it seems to be the only easily-available WWAN card compatible with T-Mobile USA 3G/4G.

I'm just wondering, any idea if it would work with my M11x R1? I just opened it up and unfortunately they didn't include the extra set of antennae when they replaced my screen, so I'd have to add them myself (which is no problem), I'm just wondering if it'll work on the software side and what (if anything) I'd need to do. I saw something about downgrading the BIOS, and I'm wondering if that's necessary, and if there's any drawbacks to it.